1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus, system, and method for accessing system information and more particularly relates to an apparatus, system, and method for controlling, managing, and displaying system input and output signals to give a user access to system information independent of the system's operating system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Information technology is the lifeblood of most businesses in today's world. Data is often a business' most valuable commodity. Businesses also depend heavily on executable programs to conduct their businesses. A businesses' data, information, and/or executable programs may be stored on a computer system consisting of a single personal computer, a group of networked computers or servers in one location, or multiple groups of networked computers or servers that span several locations. Regardless of the size of the computer system, computer files of every kind must be accessible to those who need them. Computer system “down time” costs companies money.
Most computer systems store information that can aid a computer tech or other user to understand the reason why a computer system is no longer responding to inputs or is otherwise functioning improperly. Other computer systems have operating systems that allow a computer tech to conduct some form of diagnostics or perform system management operations. Other computer systems include a service processor that is designed to give a user real time status of events and errors that are going on inside of the computer system.
The problem with many of these computer systems, however, is that when the computer system becomes inoperable, it is impossible to access tools needed to diagnose and/or fix the problem. In many instances, current systems require a separate machine to access the service processor on the unresponsive machine or to access other aides on the unresponsive machine. Many current systems also require a complete reboot of the machine that is unresponsive before allowing access to helpful system information regarding the reasons why the system crashed. Even in these systems, it often requires a separate machine to complete the reboot process for the unresponsive machine. In many instances, a user is dependent upon the management tools of the system that is frozen in order to find out the real time status of the unresponsive system. The user has no way to get to a system processor or service processor on the frozen machine without having to go to a separate machine.
This issue is especially problematic if you have multiple machines networked together in a single storage rack or in other limited-space situations. These types of systems are usually connected by some external connection, such as a KVM or other proprietary connection, and have a single monitor to perform management functions on, or to provide access to, the networked system. The problem, however, is that a computer tech or other user may only use the monitor to look at one of the networked systems or machines at a time. Present technology does not allow a user to simultaneously look at two systems or machines in the networked array efficiently. For example, if a user wanted to copy a file from a first machine to a second machine and then immediately run the file on the second machine as soon as the file was copied, the user would have to switch to the first machine, move the file over, then switch over to the second machine to start the desired application. In server rooms, where space is a premium, using multiple monitors to access multiple machines is not a viable solution.
From the foregoing discussion, it should be apparent that a need exists for an apparatus, system, and method that would allow access to an unresponsive computer system without having to reboot that system. It would be a further advantage to provide an apparatus, system, and method that would allow simultaneous access to multiple machines within a system. It would be a further advantage to provide an apparatus, system, and method that would allow real time access to a computer system without relying on that systems management software or hardware. It would be a further advantage to provide such a system that could provide system information on the same monitor that displays output from the main operating system, independently of the that operating system. Such an apparatus, system, and method are disclosed and claimed herein.